Posts Tagged ‘Conservative Party’
Conservative Party – An invitation to older people
David Cameron has launched the Older People Manifesto - an important addition to the Big Society agenda.
The Manifesto unveils policies designed to appeal to the older community in Britain, placing them at the centre of the political narrative and continuing David Cameron’s pledge to champion the great ignored.
“I want to bring older generations right into the mainstream of our national life”, Cameron said in a speech today. “Yes, to treat them with respect and kindness, and to give them the dignity and security they deserve - but also to call on their wisdom and values”.
Click here to download the Older People Manifesto
The Manifesto highlights:
1. Work and equality.
Work to stop discrimination against older people and introduce better support for older workers who lose their jobs, by:
- Looking at how to end the retirement age to promote fairness in the workplace.
- Scrapping the effective obligation to buy an annuity by age 75, to give people greater control over their finances.
- Providing specialist back-to-work support for the over 50s.
2. Greater financial security.
Protect pensioners’ benefits and create new forms of help to promote more independence and security, by:
- Protecting key benefits: the Winter Fuel Allowance, free bus passes, free TV licences and the pension credit. And unlike Labour, we will not scrap Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance for the over 65s.
- Providing a better basic state pension by linking it to earnings in 2012.
- Freezing council tax for two years in partnership with local councils, saving a typical Band D pensioner household over £200 a year.
- Giving more help to lower fuel bills through a ‘green deal’, helping to tackle fuel poverty.
3. Health and independence.
Health and social care that is fairer and more flexible, reducing the increasing isolation and vulnerability of elderly people, by:
- Health and social care that is fairer and more flexible, reducing the increasing isolation and vulnerability of elderly people, by:
- Protecting NHS spending so it has the resources it needs to meet people’s rising expectations about the quality of care they should receive.
- Providing single budgets, combining social and health funding, to give older people direct control over the care they receive.
- Scrapping Labour’s jobs tax, and using the £200 million a year this will save the NHS to create a Cancer Drugs Fund – making sure that everyone has access to the cancer drugs their doctors think will help them.
- Devolving public health budgets, so communities can spend money to prevent older people getting ill in the first place.
- Making sure that no-one is forced to sell their own home to pay their care home fees.
- Delivering better palliative care to people at the end of their lives.
4. Family and community.
Greater recognition of the important role that older people and grandparents play in their communities, and more opportunities for older people to take a more active part in building a stronger, more family-friendly society, by:
- Greater recognition of the important role that older people and grandparents play in their communities, and more opportunities for older people to take a more active part in building a stronger, more family-friendly society, by:
- Getting older people involved in new programmes of civic action and volunteering, at the vanguard of a new army of activists who will help build the Big Society.
- Creating new powers for local communities to save community assets, like post offices, that are of great value to older people.
- Giving greater rights to grandparents after parental break-up or in cases where a child needs to be taken into care.
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Invitation to join the Government of Britain
The Conservative Manifesto 2010
A country is at its best when the bonds between people are strong and when the sense of national purpose is clear. Today the challenges facing Britain are immense. Our economy is overwhelmed by debt, our social fabric is frayed and our political system has betrayed the people. But these problems can be overcome if we pull together and work together. If we remember that we are all in this together.
Some politicians say: ‘give us your vote and we will sort out all your problems’. We say: real change comes not from government alone. Real change comes when the people are inspired and mobilised, when millions of us are fired up to play a part in the nation’s future.
Yes this is ambitious. Yes it is optimistic. But in the end all the Acts of Parliament, all the new measures, all the new policy initiatives, are just politicians’ words without you and your involvement.
How will we deal with the debt crisis unless we understand that we are all in this together? How will we raise responsible children unless every adult plays their part? How will we revitalise communities unless people stop asking ‘who will fix this?’ and start asking ‘what can I do?’ Britain will change for the better when we all elect to take part, to take responsibility – if we all come together. Collective strength will overpower our problems.
Only together can we can get rid of this government and, eventually, its debt. Only
Together can we get the economy moving. Only together can we protect the NHS. Improve our schools. Mend our broken society. Together we can even make politics and politicians work better. And if we can do that, we can do anything. Yes, together we can do anything.
So my invitation today is this: join us, to form a new kind of government for Britain.
Read the Conservative Manifesto 2010
The Conservative Manifesto 2010 is available to read in the document reader below, or alternatively download as a PDF in both hi-res and low-res versions.
Download the 2010 Conservative manifesto (3.04 megs)
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Buy copies of the Conservative Manifesto 2010
Copies of the Conservative Manifesto 2010 are available to buy from the Party Shop at a cost of £5.
Audio of the Conservative Manifesto 2010
Download the Conservative Manifesto 2010 in audio (MP3) format using the links below.
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Labour Party – We’ve heard it all before and nothing changes
The Conservatives have responded to the Labour Party’s “empty” manifesto, saying “we’ve heard everything in it before”.
“We’ve had thirteen years of broken promises and nothing ever changes”, said Michael Gove, speaking alongside Liam Fox.
There have been over 100 broken promises from Labour’s 2005 manifesto. The Conservatives have called for crowdsourced responses to their 2010 manifesto to expose misleading references.
Gove said that the Conservative manifesto launched today “will reveal policies that demonstrate the energy, the leadership and the values needed to bring about change, to get our economy moving, to mend our broken society and crucially to rebuild trust in our broken political system”.
“In all these areas where urgent action is needed, Labour is either empty, silent or misleading”, he said.
Gove and Fox spoke as they published the Conservative response to the Labour Manifesto. The response questions why there is no reference to our national debt, and includes:
- Five promises they don’t know how to pay for
- Five promises they won’t be able to deliver
- Five promises they’ve broken before
- Five promises that are undermined by their own record
- Five promises they’ve stolen from us
Explaining the Conservative inititative to crowdsource responses to the manifesto, Shadow Treasury Minister Greg Hands said: “The Conservatives are today publishing Labour’s 2010 manifesto in an open and interactive format so that you can dig through the detail of Labour’s latest set of election promises”.
“It’s up to you to highlight the reannouncements, the U-turns, the stolen policies, and the re-heated pledges.”
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Conservative plan for a fuel duty stabiliser will be a welcome relief for drivers as petrol prices hit an all-time high
It was back in 2008 that George Osborne first announced Tory plans for a fuel duty stabiliser – an idea which was first proposed by Andrew Lilico.
The idea is simple: when the oil price is high, the fuel duty will be lowered, and vice versa.
And little would George Osborne have known in 2008 that the 2010 general election would be fought at a time when the price of petrol would be hitting an all-time high at £1.20 a litre – nearly £6 a gallon in “old money”.
And today’s Telegraph suggests that right now the introduction of the fuel duty stabiliser would probably see the price of petrol at the pump today being reduced by 10p a litre under the Conservative plan:
“The move will be funded from the increased taxes the Government raises from other levies on oil companies when wholesale prices rise… However, it is likely to prove controversial when oil prices fall as fuel duty will rise again.”
“The details of the scheme – including the price at which petrol will “stabilise” – will be the subject of a consultation launched soon after a Conservative election victory. It is expected to be launched within months if Mr Cameron is successful.
“Last night, a senior Conservative source said: “We are very straight with people. This is not a tax giveaway – instead it is a sensible, balanced policy that protects families from big increases in the oil price. When the oil price rockets, the tax falls and the petrol price at the pump stays stable – and vice-versa when the oil price falls.”
The public anger at the cost of petrol should not be underestimated and this policy provides another popular doorstep-ready policy for Conservatives to take to the electorate.
Jonathan Isaby
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Fuel Tax
Fuel tax is an imposed sales tax put on the sale of fuel. Frequently, fuel tax is looked upon as a source of general revenue, with some being put towards the maintenance of roads and highways.
Fuel Tax in the UK
Fuel tax in the UK is constantly changing and has risen steadily over the last 15 years. Between 1993 and 1999 there was a rapid increase with duties on fuel increasing by 3% above inflation. This was due to a major change in petrol taxation in 1993 when the Conservatives introduced the Fuel Price ‘escalator’. This was a way of the government making money and also to help protect the environment by discouraging people from using their cars.
Fuel Escalator Forces Prices Up
This fuel escalator forced prices up from one of the lowest in Europe to now one of the most expensive. When it was first added, fuel prices rose by 3 pence a litre and tax contributed to 72.8% of the total cost. By 1997 the escalator had added 11.1p to the cost of unleaded petrol and was at 75%. It didn’t get any better when the conservatives left office and Gordon Brown took over, as the escalator increased and 3 pence was added per litre. This took tax up to an incredible 81.5% of the total price of fuel.
Fuel Tax and the 2000 Fuel Protests
Despite the fuel escalator being abandoned in 1999, fuel prices did continue to rise rapidly, with a 2 pence a litre rise after the 2000 budget, contributing to the fuel protest. These rises were however argued by the government to be as a result of increasing oil costs rather than tax increases. This argument does hold some truth when we look at the graph above, showing that although the overall price of fuel has risen, the percentage of tax has stayed relatively constant and even dropped slightly this year.
In April 2005, tax on petrol and diesel were charged at 47.1 pence a litre which with VAT added also, the total taxation makes up a huge 69.9% of the price we paid for unleaded and 67.3% for diesel.
British drivers pay two taxes on petrol they buy at the pump and fuel campaigners complain about the fact that VAT is charged on the cost of fuel and the duty and feel it should only be calculated on the cost of the fuel for a fairer petrol price.
Duty on fuel in the UK increased again on 1 October 2007, with an increase of 2.00 pence a litre on unleaded and diesel and an even greater increase on LPG and natural gas. See the fuel duty for all fuels below:
2007 Fuel Tax Figures
2007 fuel duty (as of 1 October 2007) in the United Kingdom was:
- 50.35 pence per litre for ultra-low sulphur unleaded petrol/diesel
- 53.65 pence per litre for conventional unleaded petrol
- 56.94 pence per litre for conventional diesel
- 30.35 pence per litre for bio-diesel and bio ethanol – low tax to encourage consumer conversion
- 16.49 pence per kg for gas other than natural gas (LPG)
- 13.70 pence per kg for natural gas used as road fuel.
- 9.69 pence per litre for rebated gas oil (red diesel)
- 9.29 pence per litre for rebated fuel oil
As of 1 October 2007 effective rates of duty for non-road fuels increased by 2 ppl. These rates are set to be increased by the same percentage as the main road fuels on 1 April 2008 and again on 1 April 2009.
From 1 October 2007 duty rates for unleaded petrol, leaded petrol, aviation gasoline and other heavy oil used as road fuel were increased by the same percentage as the main road fuels.
2009 Fuel Tax Figures
2009 fuel duty (as of 1 September 2009) in the United Kingdom is:
- 56.19 pence per litre for main road fuels, unleaded petrol and diesel
- 65.91 pence per litre for leaded petrol
- 36.19 pence per litre for biodiesel and bioethanol
- 22.16 pence per kg for road fuel natural gas
- 27.67 pence per kg for road fuel liquefied petroleum gas (‘LPG’)
On 1 December 2008 a permanent 2p increase in fuel tax was introduced to offset the rate cut in VAT from 17.5% to 15% bringing the duty rate for the main road fuels up to 52.35p per litre.
On 1 April 2009 the duty rate for unleaded petrol and diesel was icreased by 1.84 ppl to 54.19p per litre and again on 1 September 2009 by 2 ppl to reach the current level of 56.19 per litre. These rates will be increased further on 1 April 2010 to 2013 by 1ppl above indexation each year.
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Conservatives – Three strikes policy to crack down on benefit fraud
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Theresa May has announced a new ‘three strikes’ policy to crack down on those who repeatedly defraud the benefits system.
This comes as new analysis reveals that under Labour benefit overpayments due to fraud and error have cost £80 a second since 1997.
“For too long Labour have let benefit cheats play the system, costing the taxpayer millions”, May said.
“It is astounding that since 1997 welfare waste has cost the public £80 every second”.
- In total, Labour have wasted over £30 billion on fraud and error between 1997-98 and 2008-09. £14 billion of that has been wasted on benefit fraud.
- The Department for Work and Pensions has had its accounts qualified for the last 20 years due to the high level of fraud and error in the benefits system
- Between 2004-05 and 2008-09, only 143,838 people have been sanctioned for benefit fraud
The Conservatives have announced new plans to introduce tougher benefit sanctions for those found guilty of benefit fraud. This is about targeting the minority of those who are undermining the integrity of the benefits system.
Those who commit benefit fraud once will lose their out-of-work benefits for three months, a second offence will attract a benefit sanction of six months, and if someone commits fraud three times they face losing their out-of-work benefits for up to three years.
This is a big increase in the penalty, from the current situation where fraudulent claimants lose a maximum of 13 weeks benefit entitlement.
May said the Conservatives will “send out a strong message to people who fleece the taxpayer- you could lose your out of work benefits for three years”.
“This is about fairness. While the whole country is tightening its belt it’s scandalous that thousands are managing to defraud the taxpayer out of billions.”
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Gordon Brown’s record – Conservative “Vote for Me” campaign
Michael Gove has launched a new poster campaign putting Gordon Brown’s record at the heart of the election campaign.
These posters arrive alongside a new analysis of Labour’s time in power, and you can view both by clicking the links below.
Speaking at the launch, Shadow Education Secretary Michael Gove said:
“Gordon Brown is asking people to vote him in for another five years but he and his tired Government will just make things worse.”
“He has doubled our national debt and squandered billions of pounds selling off Britain’s gold at rock bottom prices. He has taken billions out of our pensions system and doubled the tax rate for the poorest workers. He has let down our young people by causing record youth unemployment, and overseen an increase in the gap between the rich and poor. And he has let 80,000 criminals out of prison early, leading to 1,500 crimes being committed by people who should have been behind bars.”
“We can’t go on like this. The choice at this election is five more years of Gordon Brown’s tired government making things worse or David Cameron and the Conservatives with the energy, leadership and values to get the country moving.”
… and here are some other things Gordon Brown did…
Cut the Defence Budget at a time of war – and got caught out denying it!
Gordon Brown misled the Chilcot Inquiry, Parliament and the public when he claimed that ‘the defence budget has been rising every year since 1997’
(Hansard, 10 March 2010, Col. 291).
He was later forced to admit that ‘I do accept that in one or two years defence expenditure did not rise in real terms’
(Hansard, 17 March 2010).
Figures from the Ministry of Defence show that the defence budget actually fell year-on-year in real terms on four occasions since 1997 – in 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2007.
(Channel 4 News Factcheck, 10 March 2010).
Taxed jobs as we were emerging from recession.
Last December, Gordon Brown’s Government announced a tax on jobs – a 0.5 per cent rise in the rate of National Insurance Contributions for both employees and employers. This comes on top of the
rise in NICs announced in the 2008 PBR, meaning a total planned rise of 1 per cent. This is a tax on all businesses and on every person earning over £20,000.
The Federation of Small Businesses has estimated that this could mean up to 57,000 jobs are lost. (FSB,
Press Release, 24 March 2010)
Increased spending on quangos by £10 billion.
The cost of unelected and poorly accountable government bodies has soared by almost £10 billion under Gordon Brown. In his first year as Prime Minister, total expenditure on so-called
“executive non-departmental public bodies” rose from £37.0 billion to £43.0 billion in 2007-08 – a 16 per cent rise
(Cabinet Office, Public Bodies 2007, p.10; Public Bodies 2008, p.10).
Figures for 2008-09 revealed quango expenditure rose by another £3.5 billion to £46.5 billion – a 7 per cent rise
(Cabinet Office, Public Bodies 2009, p.6) making a mockery of his claims to deliver a new politics.
Brought boom and bust to the NHS – which led to NHS cuts.
Despite massively increasing spending, Gordon Brown has been guilty of a ‘boom and bust’ approach to the NHS finances, forcing NHS Trusts into cuts and wasteful short-term spending. Between 2005 and 2007, 14,500 jobs were cut from the NHS as Trusts struggled to recover from deficits
(NHS Information Centre, NHS Staff 1998-2008, 25 March 2009).
And since 2004, the number of beds in the NHS has been cut by 21,500 – the equivalent of 12 per cent
(Department of Health, Bed availability and occupancy 2008-09, 30 September 2009).
Accident and Emergency departments and maternity units up and down the country have faced or are facing cuts and closures. And things are only set to get worse, as one of Gordon Brown’s own health advisers said that ‘the days of the District General Hospital are over’
(Professor Sir Ara Darzi, NHS London, A Framework for Action, 11 July 2007).
Let truancy rise to record levels.
In 1998, Gordon Brown’s Treasury set a target to reduce truancy rates to 0.5 per cent
(HM Treasury, Comprehensive Spending Review, Public Service Agreements 1999-2000, December 1998).
But the figure now stands at 1.05 per cent – up 44 per cent since 1996/7, well in excess of the Government’s target, and at a record high. 67,000 pupils skip school without permission every day
(DCSF, Pupil Absence in Schools in England, Including Pupil Characteristics: 2008/09, 25 March 2010).
Paid couples more to live apart than together.
The tax credit system penalises parents who live together, giving families a financial incentive to split up.
The IFS has highlighted the fact that a couple with children earning £20,000 between them could be more than £5,000 better off in terms of benefits and tax credits if they split up.
(The Sunday Times, 4 March 2007).
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Struan Stevenson MEP campaigning for Scottish food producers
Its great to see Struan Stevenson MEP campaigning hard on behalf of Scottish interests in Europe in particular his robust defence of our farmers and business who produce such excellent locally grown produce. His comments on labelling are essential for consumers to know exactly what they are buying.
Jim Ferguson
First word …
Welcome to the February edition of my Brussels Briefing.This month, in addition to my involvement in the appointment process of the new European Commission, I have been keeping a close eye on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy while striving to seek clarity on the issue of food labelling.
In these tough economic times local businesses and farmers need our support. Locally sourced produce is no longer a fashionable phrase, it now relates to the very survival of local shops and businesses.
In addition, the people of Scotland recognise the quality of home-grown produce and want to buy food that is genuinely Scottish. For too long consumers have been duped by products that have been mislabelled or not labelled at all. It is about time that producers are given clear guidelines for labelling. I will continue to campaign to have existing legislation changed to reflect the choice and clarity that consumers expect.
Join up here to support my campaign and help protect Scotland’s local farmers and businesses.
Best wishes,
Struan Stevenson MEP
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Conservative policy outlines economic growth
Good to see clear cut forward planning to restore our economy. George Osborne and his comments below demonstrate that a definitive vision exists to restore the economy and all the benefits that this entails.
Jim Ferguson
Osborne outlines eight benchmarks for economic growth
Tuesday, February 2 2010
George Osborne has set out a new model of economic growth, which plans for a private sector recovery driven by business investment and exports, instead of consumer borrowing and government debt.
The eight clear and transparent benchmarks published today are something against which a future Conservative Government can be judged.
Speaking at the launch of the document, the Shadow Chancellor contrasted our detailed approach with that of Gordon Brown who “will say anything and spend anything to cling on to power.”
And he added, “The man who failed to fix the roof while the sun was shining, and took Britain into the deepest and longest recession for generations, cannot be trusted to take us out of it.”
You can read the document in full using the viewer below, or alternatively click here to download a copy.
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Dealing with Britains debt is a priority
Cameron says recovery depends on tackling the debt
The UK was one of the first economies to go into recession, and is now the last big economy to come out - new figures are expected to show the first signs of economic growth after eighteen months of recession.
“Obviously this will be very good news, but let’s be absolutely clear what this means”, Cameron said at his monthly press conference.
“Coming out of recession doesn’t mean that our debt crisis is over – far from it. Labour’s debt crisis is the biggest threat to our recovery. So we’ll only get this recovery right if we start right now on a proper debt reduction plan.”
In highlighting the need to “get a grip of our debt crisis”, Cameron used the analogy of a credit card: “the more we spend and the longer we wait to pay off our bills, the worse it can get”.
He said that the Government’s promise to halve the deficit in four years has failed to convince all those who we need to have confidence in Britain’s economic future.
“A key part of any plan is at least some early action to show that you are serious in your intent. That means some reduction in public spending plans in this coming financial year.”
“It is time they realised that it’s time to do the right thing”, Cameron added.
He also spoke about the Party’s agenda to mend our broken society, and of the Party’s success in selecting a diverse range of candidates.
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